INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



As chairman of the committee on nomenclature of the American Peony 

 Society and also the person in general charge of the cooperative peony 

 studies at Cornell undertaken by the Society and the Department of Hor- 

 ticulture, the writer is pleased to present to peony lovers a fourth report 

 on the progress of this investigation. 



This report, like the last published in May, 1910, and reprinted through 

 the financial aid of an interested amateur peony grower, is the work of 

 Mr. Leon D. Batchelor, now professor of horticulture in Utah State 

 Agricultural College, assisted as before by Messrs. Farr and Dauphin. 

 While the field work involves technical skill and discriminating ability of 

 a high order, the work of classifying and editing the field notes is also 

 very considerable. In this as well as in the field work, Mr. Batchelor has 

 rendered excellent service. Such assistance as he has received has been 

 gratefully acknowledged. The whole study has been truly cooperative. 

 It is now approaching the final stages when the important question of 

 eliminating large numbers of mediocre varieties should receive the 

 thoughtful consideration of the Society. Another important step should 

 be the establishment of a registry board to pass upon the merits of new 

 varieties before these are officially recognized. Such a step would do 

 much toward suppressing the introduction of many kinds of little or no 

 value except in the eyes of the originator. 



John Craig. 



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